I'm not good at telling these things without spoilers. I highly recommend this Spanish language movie with English subtitles. It is a great, albeit depressing, and thought-provoking piece. Be warned - SPOILER ALERT!
The story centers around a seventeen-year-old girl from Colombia who gets pregnant with a boyfriend she doesn't love (although that isn't completely clear - it might just be that he doesn't love her). The girl makes one mistake (usually a result of her being deceptive) after another until she finds herself pregnant, unemployed (apparently she was out of school - I don't know what the school structure is like in Colombia), and desperate.
How desperate would you need to be in order to swallow 62 large grape-sized capsules of cocaine and use your body as a mule to haul them from Colombia to America? Apparently, Maria was that desperate. The story transitions from her struggle as an unemployed, pregnant Colombian girl to her stressful tale as a drug mule. It's a real tense situation (and the main storyline of the movie) that I will leave for your viewing pleasure.
The question I was left with after watching is what does the title - "Maria Full of Grace" - mean. How is she full of grace? What is the graceful act she received? Did she show grace to people? Maybe a little but not enough to say she is full of grace. Then it all came together in my head. At the end, Maria walked in front of a giant Intel advertisement that declared "It's what's inside that counts." All of her mistakes, lies, and deceptions helped bring about a better life for her and her child despite that those actions would normally result in destruction. **SUPER SPOILER ALERT** To her baby, they are what will allow him to become American, which in the movie was portrayed as a great thing that would result in a better life. This horrible and tragic story is filled with grace because in the end it brought about a better life for Maria and, especially, for her baby.
Watch out for the potholes.
